Local groups hosting cleanup event Saturday

By VALERIE GARMAN / The News Herald

Published: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at 09:00 AM.

Following the cleanup, festivities will continue at Lake Powell Park until 2 p.m., with “Eco-booth” exhibits from local environmental groups and fundraising efforts, including a chance-drawing and lunch by donation. Money raised will benefit the LPCA and RMA, both nonprofit organizations.

Every year, the RMA focuses on a different location for International Coastal Cleanup Day.

“Last year they cleaned up Carl Gray Park and they covered a mile of shoreline and picked up 500 pounds of trash,” Ellis said. “I can’t even imagine what we’re going to pick up this year.”

Year-round, the RMA conducts water quality monitoring for area waterways through Bay Watch and Lake Watch, and also monitors sea grass and sea turtle nests.

The LPCA is a community-based initiative formed in 2004, with a goal to preserve and protect Lake Powell.

Located in western Bay County and extending into South Walton, Lake Powell is part of a collection of rare coastal dune lakes found at only a handful of places on the globe, including Madagascar, New Zealand, Australia and Northwest Florida.

Ellis has lived on the west end of Lake Powell for 20 years and has participated in water quality monitoring through the RMA for the last 17 years. Thus far, she has been blown away by the community support surrounding this year’s cleanup event, with dozens of local businesses contributing items for the giveaway fundraiser.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — On just one day last year, more than 500,000 volunteers collected 10 million pounds of trash from shorelines across the globe.

Several Bay County organizations once will again contribute to that number Saturday during Ocean Conservancy’s 28th annual International Coastal Cleanup.

“It’s very eye-opening when you see those figures,” said Emily Ellis, vice president of the Lake Powell Community Alliance (LPCA), which will be hosting a cleanup event in partnership with the St. Andrew Bay Resource Management Association (RMA). “This Saturday, all across the world, people will be cleaning up their coastal shorelines and inland waterways.”

The Lake Powell cleanup event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon and participants will be shuttled by boat to different locations along the lake’s roughly 10 miles of shoreline.

Participants must register for the cleanup between 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. at Lake Powell Park or Camp Helen State Park, and garbage bags, gloves, snacks and data cards will be provided.

“We record every single piece of trash that’s picked up,” Ellis said. “The data is tabulated and it’s all brought back here to be weighed.”

Following the cleanup, festivities will continue at Lake Powell Park until 2 p.m., with “Eco-booth” exhibits from local environmental groups and fundraising efforts, including a chance-drawing and lunch by donation. Money raised will benefit the LPCA and RMA, both nonprofit organizations.

Every year, the RMA focuses on a different location for International Coastal Cleanup Day.

“Last year they cleaned up Carl Gray Park and they covered a mile of shoreline and picked up 500 pounds of trash,” Ellis said. “I can’t even imagine what we’re going to pick up this year.”

Year-round, the RMA conducts water quality monitoring for area waterways through Bay Watch and Lake Watch, and also monitors sea grass and sea turtle nests.

The LPCA is a community-based initiative formed in 2004, with a goal to preserve and protect Lake Powell.

Located in western Bay County and extending into South Walton, Lake Powell is part of a collection of rare coastal dune lakes found at only a handful of places on the globe, including Madagascar, New Zealand, Australia and Northwest Florida.

Ellis has lived on the west end of Lake Powell for 20 years and has participated in water quality monitoring through the RMA for the last 17 years. Thus far, she has been blown away by the community support surrounding this year’s cleanup event, with dozens of local businesses contributing items for the giveaway fundraiser.

“The community has really stepped up,” Ellis said. “People are starting to realize they live in paradise, and we need to protect it.”